noob botched her first summer quilt!

I made a couple synthetic quilts. But in order to make it warm enough for 20 F, my design goal, it's too bulky.

Down is warmer for the weight. I haven't had a problem with it getting wet.

Maybe the best way to make a quilt is to use down.

Although, for a summer quilt, probably not that important…

Jerry, the cost per weight savings for a 45-50 down quilt is pretty silly. mine with M90 came out to 12oz for apex 2.5 and you can't get much lower than that with down.

Keep at it Jen! i used some scraps for practicing before i did mine to get the machine running correctly and to see how the pieces reacted. i wish i had written down the settings so i could repeat it.

Yeah – summer quilt with 2.5 oz Apex not that much difference in weight or bulk

For a heavier quilt, down starts being much better

Yep, I went to Tim for an EE 20* because he could do a better job than I could ever hope haha.

What do you guys think of Wonder Tape? I have a roll of 1/4" double sided…I could put it in the seam allowance between the two nylon layers to try to keep them together better……thoughts?

I would be a little bit worried about long-term glue bleed, as with very old rolls of sticky tape. Yucky!

Me, I use fine pins.

Cheers

I thought of another idea, but was too embarrassed to post it before since it is very far from purist. I would try it since I am a lazy shmoe. Instead of sewing through the tape, use some cheap-ass double-sided tape like scotch tape or some other tape – whatever sticks decently, but not insanely hard to your materials. Use the tape to hold the material in place and sew right next to it. Then simply peel it off when you are done. You could measure a bit of extra material to do this. Cut it off when you are done. No washing away involved. Depends on tape, materials and seam type of course, but would be easy to test before hand, and the tape might be cheap and readily available.

@roger Pins schpins, who has time for that? :-)

You got to use pins or something to keep the fabric and insulation aligned. I prefer hand stitches. Or "basting" where you hand stitch with a long stitch length like one inch. You have to go through fabric/insulation/fabric.

I think simplest is best. Just sew through fabric/insulation/fabric. Around the perimeter first, so insulation is stabilized. Then fold under the edges to hide the raw edges and sew through it. Maybe you have to cut off some of the insulation to make it even.

Forget adding tape or strips – too much fiddling, not necesary. You don't need to turn inside out to hide seam – a quilt is big so if there's a seam around the edge you won't notice.

Hi Jennifer,
Since my experiences have been quite different from some others', thought some comments might be in order. My conclusions are consistent with Roger's at least, so I don't feel like an outlier.

A most irritating feature of low denier (10D-30D) nylon, is that like an octopus or a jellyfish, it really has no set dimensions. For this reason, for longer seams I use fine pins to connect the fabric pieces where the seam will be, and when marking the fabric for cutting, make sure the tension is just enough to hold it flat on the cutting table, and no more.

But that is just the beginning. Experiments must be done with samples of the material and the intended thread at different tensions to make sure beforehand that a flat, unpuckered seam will result.

Then the trick is to hold the work at both ends, or both in front and in back of the needle, while the work is being sewn. This requires holding the work with just the right amount of tension, not too much, not too little, to keep it flat, while maintaining the shoulder joints as loose as possible so they don't interfere with the passage of the material under the presser foot. Sort of like paddling a canoe or kayak: the shaft is gripped tightly and the elbows kept straight, but the shoulders are loose. Some recommend some of the varieties of rolling feet for this, but KISS is my guiding principle.

Also, the thread tensions, both top and bottom, must be set low enough so that the thread does not cause puckering. And the thread should not be too heavy for such a gossamer fabric. In the USA, Mettler Metrosene Plus is a light outdoor thread available in many colors, a polyester covered polyester, found at many outlets, although not the chains. Good strength to weight.

The pins are removed just before the work passes under the needle. They are there just to make sure the fabrics are joined at the points where you want them to be joined.

In this fashion, a seam without puckering is obtained, and the seam ends where it was marked to end on all pieces being sewn.

Often the so-called DWR (durable water resistant) coating on nylons is just a thinner coating of silicone that presents the same resistance to adhesives that the thicker coatings present on so-called silnylons. With the pins, this is a non-issue.

On a more general note, sewing nylons is a little like hiking poorly marked trails. (The Forest Service calls them 'undefined,'or something to that effect. Translation: We're too lazy to get out and mark the trails.) When in doubt, do not 'soldier on.' Back up to where you knew where you were going. With sewing, that often means removing seams with a sharp seam ripper. Less work in the long run.

These approaches have worked for me time and time again without fail, so thought they deserved mention. Best of luck.

A couple of thoughts…

If you've never worked with slippery fabrics before, PRACTICE by making a few stuff sacks. Sounds like you now have some scrap material, so there's your chance.

Your sentence "I did my best to hold it taut" says a lot, imo. I think you're gripping the fabric too tight. It seems counter-intuitive, but the tighter you hold, the more uneven/unmatched the two layers of fabric will become. A lot of beginners run the machine too fast and end up holding on the fabric to try to control it, sort of like reining in a horse. Slow it way down, so that you're comfortable holding the fabric *just* enough to guide it.

Don't sweat the small amount of "puckering". Again, trying to get perfectly smooth stitches by keeping the fabric taut will result in stretching and uneven layers.

Sewing is essentially an engineering problem. I thought about the logistics and planned it so that I was always sewing with the fabric layer on top. Using a straight-stitch plate, I never needed to use the newspaper or whatever, and no problems sewing through the Apex. I did, however, PRACTICE by making a padded pillow case first. I made a stuffable "sleeve" with one side padded with the Apex. Good for trips when I know I have enough extra clothes to make a pillow.

IF the thought of sewing through all the layers evenly and straight is making you grip the fabric too tight, instead of hand-basting, I would (a) give yourself a wider seam-allowance and (b) sew a first pass on the outside of the seam-allowance using a big zig-zag stitch. The zig-zag stitches won't slide the layers of fabric half as much and is much more forgiving about catching all the layers.

BTW, I'm in my 50's and I've been sewing for a LONG time. Imo, a little practice and quality materials (fabric, thread) trumps equipment any day. I use a cheap Singer purchased at Target and don't get too fussed about needle sizes. In many ways, it's a little like applying UL philosophies…

Thanks for the all the advice! It's supposed to be in the mid-90s here this weekend, so two days of swimming and sewing look like a great idea!

I think all the mistakes I made on the V.1 were very helpful. I did get a better feel for the material – it seemed much lighter than the nylons I was practicing with and that I made all those stuff sacks with. And as many of you have suggested – I do have quite a bit of fabric to practice on, since I have a whole quilt's worth at this point!

I won't likely start the ACTUAL V.2 until later, but this weekend I see a ton of practice, playing with thread tension, practicing how much I'm holding the nylons, etc.

You guys are so awesome, I really appreciate the help!

I've done a little experimenting with the stuff that has a slight adhesive (so you press the fabric/tape together), then you iron on, plus you can sew through it too.

Works better than pins. Wonder if it also holds the seams in better with these lighter fabrics?

Any of the tapes or adhesives, such as a gluestick for fabrics or Wonder tape, Steam-a-seam, 505 spray… eventually gums up the needle. Its good for small areas that you are sewing but for holding seams, not a great idea. Patience and learning how the fabric works is key. You can use clips..I like something called Wonder Clips that I use for quilting that grab really well. Others mentioned using those small binder clips. Otherwise pins and patience….